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The two biggest games in club football are yet to be decided, but for most of us the 2012 rollercoaster season is over. The first test match of the international cricket season got under way at Lord’s yesterday, signalling the start of the British summer and time to hang up those shin pads for another year.
Who impressed in 2012? Let’s have a go at the Dave Gambler Premier League team of the season;
The Manager
The concensus view puts Alan Pardew and his two Sengalese signings at the head of the pack. Demba Ba and Papis Cisse have netted 30 goals between them this term (that includes 13 from Cisse since January). Yohan Cabaye is another Pardew signing that looks like a stunning bit of business. Mr Pardew picked up the LMA managers award and has turned Newcastle into a team fighting their way into the top six.
 Alan doesn’t get the nod from me though, I’d rather have David Moyes in charge. The goggle eyed Scot has consistently made Everton punch above their weight, they’ve finished above Liverpool for the first time in years and it looks like they finally have a bloke who can put the ball in the net. Selling Steven Pienaar for £10 million, then loaning him back for Everton’s traditional late season surge sums up the kind of deal that Moyes is forced into year after year, and he keeps pulling them off. Other clubs, with other managers would find themselves languishing around the 15th/16th spots given Everton’s financial restrictions, just look at Villa this season.
Honorable mentions have to go to Brendan Rodgers of Swansea and Roberto Martinez of Wigan for their dedication to footballing principles, but my man for 2011/12 has got to be David Moyes.
Talking of big games, check out this blockbuster money back special from our friends at Paddy Power; If Chelsea lift the Champions League trophy, Paddy Power will refund all losing first goalscorer, last goalscorer, correct score & scorecast singles on the match. Not quite as tempting as last years offer, when the Power refunded all bets if Barcelona won in 90 minutes, but still well worth punting with the boys in green.
Keep an eye out for the next bit of our “team of the season”. We’ll be looking at the goalkeeper and the back four shortly.
Good morning golf punters. We ended a dry run of bets last week with all of our picks making a fist of it over the weekend.
Richard Bland and John Parry made T16th and T4th in Portugal, Mr Parry nailing a place finish at 100/1 is a great result. Across the pond Brian Davis almost forced his way into the top positions but ended a respectable T25th after a 72, 75 weekend. Our other pick for the Players gave us another good return, Ben Curtis finished T2nd at a big 70/1.
Last weeks tips, and last weeks winners were juicy prices. Thats what we do here at Dave Gambler. Anyone can tell you that Lee Westwood has a decent chance, or that Luke Donald might finish in the places at 10/1. Here we look for the first time winner, the forgotten veteran who suits the track, the young gun putting together a good run, and in doing so we find the maximum value (and sometimes the maximum satisfaction) in the betting market. If you fancy a chance at banking £100 plus for a £2 stake, if you like the idea of backing the bloke everyone least expects, then keep it here folks.
Let’s get on with it.
HP Byron Nelson Championship
The TPC Four Seasons in Texas plays host to the PGA Tour circus this week. This one isn’t easy, and it gets extremely tricky when the wind swirls. The forecast says we can expect moderate gusts throughout, making 270 a great score for the week on this par 70.
The skills required this week? We’re looking for a guy that gets the ball on the fairway and doesn’t make too many bogeys.
How about Will Claxton? He’s ranked 20th on tour in bogey avoidance having made 112 bogeys in 774 holes played and he hits the fairway more often than not, ranking 31st in driving accuracy. This 30 year old grew up on a golf course, he’s used that experience to make seven cuts on the spin and made a respectable T26th in his last outing at the Wells Fargo.
 Claxton: Unfancied At 150/1 Will is as good as anybody at getting the ball from tee to green, it’s his putter that can let him down. That failing turns what could be a 67 into a 70, but if he can get hot on the greens and deals with the wind he has a great chance at a tournament where a single figure under par score could be enough to win. Mr Claxton is 150/1 in the outright market, maybe we should temper our enthusiasm and take him at 12/1 to make the top ten.
Next up is an up and coming rookie golfer by the name of John Huh. He’s a Yank of Korean descent who could be celebrating his 22nd birthday next Monday with a second tour victory. Mr Huh ranks 13th in fairways hit and has made three top 25′s in his last five starts, including last week at the Players. John Huh can be backed at 50/1.
Volvo World Match Play
These match play tournaments are a right bugger for us punters. The draw hasn’t even been made yet, making it doubly difficult. The 24 entrants are split into eight groups of three, the groups play in a round-robin on Thursday and Friday until sixteen players go through to the knockout stage on Saturday, followed by the semi-finals and final on Sunday. This format is ideal for television veiwers betting on individual matches, but the outright market is more difficult, but here goes nothing.
I quite like Branden Grace at 16/1. He’s won three times already, including the other two tournaments sponsored by Volvo. The South African hits the drive nearly 300 yards on average and makes the green in regulation 73% of the time, not too shabby. 16/1 looks far too big, his inexperience at matchplay events might explain the premium price.
My other pick has a bit more golf time under his belt, it’s Nic Colsaerts. We’ve backed the Belgian a few times here and he’s never let us down. He’s made six top tens from just ten starts this year and 14/1 looks too big.
Fancy some dosh to gamble with? Try this free fiver for new Betfred players. Spin it up and use the money for this weeks golf stake.
So there you have it folks. Good luck and enjoy the golf!
Drama-rama-ding-dong! What a spectacular finish to a crazy Premier League season.
Manchester City 2-1 down at the Etihad, with the best home record in the league, heading into the 90+ stage, or “Fergie time”. The final whistle goes at the Stadium of Light, United have bagged the three points and seemingly another title, then bang bang, City hit two in the dying minutes.
The fans faces at both the Etihad and up in Sunderland are what football is all about, agony and extacy, not necessarily in that order. A brilliant finale, the likes of which we haven’t seen since 1989. And what about Joey Barton? What a loon!
 After a little off the ball scuffle Barton was given his marching orders for an elbow on Carlos Tevez. During the obligatory gathering of players around the referee Barton took it upon himself to give Sergio Aguero a kick on the back of the leg and throw in an attempted head-butt on Vincent Kompany. Plainly mental.
After the game Barton tweeted: “Think a few people are forgetting Tevez started the fracas by throwing a punch to the head…?” Okay Joey. Lucky for QPR fans, Bolton lost and took the final relegation slot.
Arsenal grabbed third place and guaranteed Champions League football, Tottenham finished fourth and will be cheering on Bayern Munich.
So thats it, the playoff finals apart the season is over. Congratulations to Manchester City. Keep an eye out for the Dave Gambler team of the season in the next couple of days. I don’t think Mr Barton is going to make it.
Another Tuesday, another chance to check out the top golf betting tips on the market.
Last week was a bust on the US tour, my picks for this side of the pond fared a little better. Marcel Siem and Robert Rock started well but faded into the weekend and out of the places at the Open de Espana.
Let’s see who’s going to do the business this week;
The Players Championship
 The 17th At Sawgrass This famous event is held at TPC Sawgrass with it’s even more famous 17th hole. The course has played hard in the previous 15 years, but things have been getting easier in the last two. The scoring average dipped below par in 2010 and hit smack on 72 last year. What’s been happening? The greens have been overhauled in an ongoing search for consistency.
What is required to post low scores round here? Landing on the fairway isn’t the biggest challenge this week. We’re looking for a golfer who can hit his irons accurately, grind out plenty of birdie opportunities, and put them away. Who fits the bill?
Not Brian Davis. The Englishman is accurate off the tee, hitting 359 fairways from 540 attempts, ranking him 19th in driving accuracy. Brian also makes it high up the list for sand saves and strokes gained putting, so he’s not a perfect fit for the course.
Mr Davis is on a good run though. He had a chance to win the Shell Houston, but fell at the last with a final round 74, along with that result Brian has three top tens in his last five starts. Add to that a ridiculous price of 100/1, and we have a value punt. Paddy Power are paying each-way for six places on this one too, but if you want a little extra security Brian Davis is 9/1 to make the top ten.
Another golfer who could do well this week is Ben Curtis. He won a couple of weeks ago in San Antonio and hasn’t looked back, making a T13 at the Zurich Classic and a more than respectable T5 last week at the Wells Fargo. This bloke is accurate, making the fairway on 158 from 224 hits, he can get the ball on the green (ranks 5th in GIR) and can get the ball down (ranks 2nd in strokes gained putting ). You get all this at a more than fair 70/1.
Madeira Island Open
This event sees the weakest field of players I think I’ve ever written about here on Dave Gambler, which doesn’t make it easy to make an informed punt on the outcome. To counter the “anyone could win” problem I’m going to pick some big prices and hope for the best.
First up is 100/1 shot John Parry. Mr Parry has one win to date on the European Tour since turning pro in 2008. His career has stuttered from promising beginings into a flurry of missed cuts and putts. My betting pal Joey Deacon loves this guy though, so he gets a mention. Remember, anyone can win this week.
Second up is another Englishman, but with alot more experience. Try Richard Bland, his career has lived up to his name, with a single win on the Challenge Tour to show for ten plus years whacking the golf ball. Mr Bland is actually one of the steadier guys and has a real chance of being around come the final day. You can back Richard at 80/1.
So there you have it folks another week of golf ideas. Don’t forget that Paddy Power are paying 1/4 the odds for six places each-way at the Players Championship, so if you are going to stick some cash on, do it with the power. Good luck and enjoy the golf!
I was as shocked as the next man to hear the camp Irish chatshow host had tried his luck with the big Ivorian, especially the night before the cup final. ITV’s Clive Tyldesley let the cat out of the bag in the run up to the Wembley showcase, but Drogba looked to be walking okay.
 Maybe we shouldn’t be so suprised, if a bloke called Didier comes on your show sporting a ponytail he’s fair game eh? Football fans are used to seeing the Chelsea battering ram with his arse in the air, that sort of thing is an open invitation to Norton.
On the bright side for Chelsea fans, the incident the previous evening didn’t effect the big strikers mobility, he slotted in Chelsea’s second and it was too much for a disappointing Liverpool.
This afternoon sees Cardiff go to West Ham trailing 2-0 from the first leg of their playoff semi-final. The Welsh side will be going all out for a goal or two, which could play into West Ham’s counter attacking style. The Hammers haven’t managed to win many at home, where they are expected to make the running, but today should suit them with Cardiff forced to pour forward.
- West Ham 8/13
- Draw 14/5
- Cardiff 9/2
The best bet here has got to be both teams to score at 4/5, which can be found under the “all other markets” tab. Enjoy the bank holiday.
It’s that time of year again folks, FA Cup final day. When I look back to a time when I was a little bit younger than I am now, I can remember the FA Cup final seeming important. I’m sure I can recall empty streets, old fashioned rattles and scarfs everywhere, men sitting in front of the telly without scorn from the wife.
Today, in 2012, the oldest of cup competitions has a reduced status. The country will not come to a halt, the wives will insist on watching re-runs of Gok, and the men will not complain, they’ll be too busy cooking up one of Jamie’s 30 minute meals and getting ready for the big family TV event of the day, Britain’s got talent, or pop idol, or whatever.
Not so says Kenny Dalglish. Winning trophies is what counts, winning today is of greater importance than qualifying for Europe. Kenny has even roped in a few of the players to back him up, Stewart Downing told the BBC; “Some of our players have said they would take two medals over fourth place and I couldn’t agree more,” what a load of old bollocks. Playing in the Champions League is now the pinnacle of the game, and any player or manager who tries to say otherwise is quite clearly attempting to cover up a disappointing season.
Liverpool currently sit in 8th spot after 36 games. They are three points behind Everton and have only won five home games all season. For a side that spent £55 million on two players last year, that is not a good return. If they beat Chelsea today will Kenny’s cup double make this a successful season? No.
To be a little fairer to the reds, I have seen them swamp a few teams this term with no reward. At times they have been all over opponents without getting the ball in the net and paid the price in the shape of dropped points. There is a decent spine to Liverpool, they’ve got one of the best keepers around, Skrtel and Agger ain’t bad, Stevie G can play and Luis Suarez is a class act, sometimes.
Can they give Chelsea a game today? I hope so, but I fear the blues have their tales up. Roberto Di Matteo, or RDM (clever that eh?) has turned Chelsea from an AVB omni-shambles into a Barcelona beating football machine, seemingly overnight. The blues are rightly the favourites.
 Money Back If Suarez Scores Those prices are of course quoted for the result after 90 minutes. If you are going to have a bet you should take Paddy Power up on their generous money back special. The Irish bookie will refund all losing first goalscorer, correct score and scorecasts if Luis Suarez scores at any time. Not bad eh?
Drogba has got to be favourite to start for Chelsea, but it’s difficult to resist betting on Fernando Torres netting the winner and sinking his former club in a close contest. Torres to score first and Chelsea to win 1-0 is 33/1 at the Power.
Where ever you put your money best of luck, and enjoy Britains Got Talent.
Good morning golf fans and welcome to another attempt to pick a winner to add to our two for the season so far. Last week wasn’t a complete success, with most of our boys not even making the cut, but there was one shining light – Cameron Tringale.
Mr Tringale now has three top ten finishes in a row, he couldn’t quite hold onto a place in Louisiana, so I lost my deposit, but this guy is one to watch.
Onto the important stuff.
Wells Fargo Championship
This one is played at Quail Hollow near Charlotte, not too far away from the last event. “The Hollow” is a tough little bugger, including the closing straight, known as the “Green Mile” which comprises holes 16, 17 & 18. Those closing holes are nasty.
Lucas Glover is defending champion, and much like previous winners here he used a great short game to overcome this tough course. Skills required to win around here are scrambling and putting. Who’s got the game?
 Tringale: 3 Consecutive Top Tens Well it’s a good looking field with Rory McIlroy, Phil “Lefty” Mickelson and Lee Westwood all lining up, but they’re all too short. Instead we’re going to back last weeks star man, a man with three consecutive top ten finishes, a man that can use his putter: Cameron Tringale gets a couple of quid at 60/1.
Second pick this week is Aaron Baddeley. Mr Baddeley has a funny name, but he takes his short game seriously and ranks 7th on tour for strokes gained putting. The Australian hasn’t played since the Heritage, where he got cut, but he will be refreshed and ready to get the ball in the hole this week at 80/1.
There are plenty more I like on the PGA this week. Keegan “Gay Boy” Bradley, Bo Van Pelt and Kevin Na all have appeal. It’s going to be another tough week on the PGA tour, good luck.
Open de Espana
Guess where this tournament’s being held? That’s right, Spain. The Real Club de Golf de Sevilla is the host course for this 100 year old tournament. This course has hosted the Open de Espana twice before; 2008, winner Peter Lawrie and 2010, winner Alvaro Quiros.
The defending champ is Thomas Aiken, who I think we won with last season, if memory serves.
I haven’t got much time left because today is a work day, so I’m just going to lay down my picks. I like Robert Rock, he’s won for me already this season at 100/1 can he do it again at 50′s?
Pick number two is a guy I’ve backed once already this season and he failed to return me any cash, so it’s scond time lucky for Marcel Siem at 66/1.
And finally how about this for a punt, David Drysdale has made a few place finishes at big prices in the past. This week he’s 175/1 and impossible for me to ignore.
There you have it folks, another week of runners and riders from Dave Gambler. Get your dosh on and enjoy the golf!
The wise old heads at the football association have decided to risk the wrath of the Harry Redknapp supporters club by making a formal approach to Roy “Woy” Hodgson. The West Brom manager is expected to be announced as Fabio Capello’s successor in the next couple of days.
Before this news broke yesterday Harry looked nailed on for the vacant England job. The press and the bookies thought that as soon as Spurs domestic matters were concluded, Harry would be the man to lead England into this summers Euros. That looks a million miles away now.
Why have the FA gone for Roy? He’s managed all over the world, he’s got international experience, he’s out of contract on the 30th of June. If England wanted to lure Harry from his job at Spurs, the FA would’ve had to pay Daniel Levy a few million quid in compensation first, and who says Harry really wanted to leave White Hart Lane anyway?
I think that Redknapp believes he can challenge for European and domestic honours with Tottenham, if he can keep his star players at the club. Why not finish your career in the best job you’ve ever had and push for trophies with Spurs?
 Woy: Got Crucified At Liverpool Roy Hodgson, get ready for every bugger talking about your time at Liverpool. It’s not going to be pretty.
What about tonights game? A Manchester derby is a big game any time, but tonights match-up throws in an extra prize, the Premier League trophy. If the reds and the blues can be separated, the winner will surely be crowned champions of England in a couple of weeks.
Our old friends at Paddy Power are offering to refund all losing first goalscorer, correct score and scorecast bets if Wayne Rooney scores at any time. Bloody good deal I reckon. I also like a red card to be shown in the match at 7/5, with both teams straining every sinue there are bound to be some crunching challenges going in, add to that the possible presence of Mario Balotelli and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a red card pie.
Finally congratulations to the Saints for a cracking championship campaign, back-to-back promotions is a great feat, Premier League here we come. The biggest positive with Southampton going back where they belong is that I don’t have to watch the football league show any more.
Good morning golf punters. I’m feeling much better than this time last week, hopefully the lack of a hangover will help us find some winners. I am running a little late again today thanks in part to my terrible mobile phone having problems overnight, and failing to wake me up.
Last week was a bit frustrating, I’ve been singing Nic Colsaerts praises for a couple of months now, I leave him out and he hits a commendable second behind Branden Grace at the China Open. At least he didn’t win the thing. Lets get on with it;
Zurich Classic
To give this tournament it’s full title; The Zurich Classic of New Orleans takes place at TPC Louisiana. This course is another tough par 72 (similar to last week in San Antonio) where GIR is key and length is helpful. Evidence of this can be found in the shape of defending champ, Bubba Watson.
The greens here are known to be particularly undulating, giving the guys who get on another headache. So who can tame TPC Louisiana and earn us some dosh?
Harris English. If he was a good bet last week, he’s even better this week at 66′s. Here’s what we said seven days ago; “This chap is long off the tee, ranking 8th on tour for driving distance and 14th for greens hit.” Harris wasn’t hitting it great last week in Texas, finishing with 75 & 80 over the weekend, lets hope for better this week.
Cameron Tringale is my second pick. Cameron is a young gun we’ve backed before, he turned pro just three years ago and is yet to nail down that difficult first tour win. He has shown some consistency so far in 2012, making 7 top 25′s from 11 starts. Two of those came in the previous two tournaments where he’s managed two 8th place finishes on the spin. Mr Tringale is long, while not a monster hitter, he can putt and he made the top 20 here last year. I like him at 50/1.
I’m going to break with Dave Gambler tradition and offer a third tip for the Zurich. How about Trevor Immelman at 100/1? He shot a nice and steady 285 at the Heritage a couple of weeks ago, he’s a class act and he’s 100/1. Worth a quid?
Ballantines Championship
 Blackstone Hosts Ballantines The European tour stays in the far east this week, taking the short trip from China to Soeul, South Korea. The Blackstone Golf Club hosts the Ballantines Championship for only the second time this year. Blackstone is a young course, having only opened in 2009, it’s also a long one. Being such a new venue doesn’t give us much to go on, we do know that Lee Westwood won the 2011 Ballantines here on 12 under, holding off Miguel A Jimenez in second.
There is a medium strength field out for this one. Adam Scott is the highest ranked player taking to the tee, which shows in his ridiculous price of 8/1. Laughable. So where is the value?
I’m going to tip another of last weeks chaps in the shape of Graeme Storm. The Englishman had two good rounds and two poor rounds in China last week and finished in the middle of the field, if he can string a couple of decent rounds together he can challenge on Sunday. The price isn’t bad either at 100/1.
Tip number two for Ballantines is French veteran Gregory Havret. Mr Havret hasn’t played for a couple of weeks after struggling in late March. This time two years ago Havret was lasering the ball down the fairways and challenging for honours every week, this year is slightly different. This guy can play though, he’s got three career wins on the Euro tour and three top 25′s this season. A dodgy one, but worth a quid at 80/1.
So there you have it folks, another weekend of golf punting taken care of. Best of luck whoever you back and enjoy the golf!
Today is St Georges day, a day for us English to celebrate what makes us, well, English. I’d like to nominate morris men, village cricket, cups of tea and flagons of ale. All of these little eccentricities are quintessentially English, but nothing gets an Englishman’s blood flowing like the business end of the football season.
In a couple of weeks we’ll know which teams are up, which teams are down, which team can call themselves champions of England and which team can call themselves champions of Europe.
On the domestic front the two Manchester clubs are serving up a great fight for the Premier league title. Alex Ferguson’s bum must’ve been twitching like a good ‘un yesterday, as he saw his almighty reds relinquish a 3-1, and then a 4-2 lead against David Moyes’ gritty Everton. That 4-4 scoreline would’ve been met with astonishment and glee in the Man City ranks.
The drama continued. City went to Wolves and cruised to a 2-0 victory that sees them move to within three points of the red devils. The manc derby next Monday is going to be the “biggest” in Fergies time at the club, it’s at the Etihad, and a win for City would see them top on goal difference with two games to go.
 Poor Old TC The real drama of the day for me though has got to be Terry Connor’s emotional response to his beloved Wolves getting the boot from the top flight. The boys in gold knew that only a win would keep their slim survival hopes alive, they couldn’t manage it and their poor gaffer had tears in his eyes as he spoke to the media. It looked like Terry was one minute away from complete breakdown, his lip was quivering, his voice was broken. Poor old TC.
The Premier league is not the only setting for business end drama of course. The Championship saw Reading crowned as champions this week, quite an incredible feat when you consider that the Royals were 150/1 just to get promoted back in December. An amazing run in 2012 that’s seen them drop points in just two games this year has pushed them past the likes of West Ham and Southampton.
The race for the second promotion place could go to the final game of the season. The hammers need a win against Leicester tonight to push to within two points of Southampton with one game remaining. Portsmouth, Coventry and Doncaster will be plying their trade in the third tier next season.
And what about Europe? The two big favourites got beaten last week in the semi-finals of the Champions league. I’m not going to spend too much time going on about Chelsea, it’s all been said already. What I will say is that the blues were incredibly lucky not to concede, Barca ran the game, hit the woodwork a couple of times and flashed wide from scoring positions on too many occasions. On another night it would’ve been 4-0 Barcelona.
The great thing about Chelsea and Bayern taking leads into the cauldrons that are the Nou Camp and the Santiago Bernabeu is that the home teams will have to throw everything at their visitors. The odds say it all;
Those prices put the task ahead into perspective. They’ve had to make Chelsea 10/1 to get anyone to stick any cash on them!
In a couple of weeks it’ll all be over for another year, some will be crying, some will be smiling, at least we’ve got England at the Euro’s to cheer this summer.
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